John Boardman

As Interviewed by Sylvia Grimes, March 18, 2018

"I remember once in high school the local community theater put on a show, a play that had a gay character in it -- and the city pulled their funding from it, from that theater, because they had a gay character in the play, and that was so bad."

Introductory Profile: About John Boardman

My interviewee, John Boardman, has been openly gay since 1987, at 17 years old. He was born in Pascagoula, Mississippi, into a very strictly religious family who didnít accept the idea of being gay. His belief in himself is what helped him accept being gay, despite his familyís disapproval.

John works as a software developer. He met his husband in 1997, and they were married in 2000. They flew to California in the summer of 2014 with friends and family to receive a marriage license.